Ok so that wasn’t pretty. The Celtics are down 48-36 at the end of the first half and are basically getting beat by one player … Jermaine O’Neal. JO has 19 points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes. Next in line is Joey Graham with eight points and Chris Bosh has six. The Celtics have not had an answer for JO on either end of the court. Kevin Garnett has 11 points and 4 defensive rebounds while Perk is scoreless with one board. If the Celtics are going to get back into this game, they are going to have to step up their low post game to counter JO’s assault. Adding insult to injury, the Celtics are shooting 32%.

Prior to going out and beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at TD Banknorth Garden, Celtics coach Doc Rivers called a meeting of the reserves before Friday night’s game, asking them if the opponent took away their best skill, how could they still help the team. Eddie House, Leon Powe and Glen “Big Baby” Davis had all the answers as the Cs wore down the Bucks in the fourth quarter with a 28-19 run to end the game and improve to 5-1 on the season, with Allen Iverson and the new-look Detroit Pistons on the horizon on Sunday night.

As the Celtics sit in Indianapolis standing 2-0 on the infantile season, let’s take a look back a defensive shutdown performance that had every fan of the Green seeing visions of last year’s title run dancing in their heads more than Gino on Halloween. (Great call, Jessica!)

Paul Pierce spent some quality time with the second unit tonight. The captain played alongside Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, and Leon Powe for 3:30 in the second quarter. It was Powe, not Pierce, who led this unit with four points. They outscored the Bulls 7-6 and pushed the lead up to 31-19 before every starter but Ray Allen subbed back in with seven minutes left. Pierce had also been scrimmaging with the second unit in practice.

The Celtics have at least 82 games to enjoy being World Champs and they are making it known in the Garden. The new pregame introduction is kicked off with highlights from Tuesday’s ring ceremony, including John Havlicek carrying the trophy out of the players’ tunnel, Paul Pierce overwhelmed by emotion, and the 17th banner being raised to the rafter. The video montage then switches to clips from the NBA Finals and Eastern Conference Seminfals. It’s a medley of slam dunks and screams that is capped off by a few words from Pierce to get the crowd riled up.

The banner is up, the rings have been delivered and Paul Pierce won’t be thanking his extended family before the game. (We kid, Paul. We kid). It’s Game 2 of the NBA season for the Celtics who welcome the Chicago Bulls to town for their second-straight nationally televised game. You can catch it all on Comcast, of course, with plenty of Mike and Tommy goodness.